With the help of Lien Chan, Lee had withstood a challenge to his leadership in 1997, shortly after the Kuomintang lost that year's local elections handily.

[1] In 2000, the Kuomintang lost the presidential election to Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian, and discontent over Lee's leadership had again broken out.

[8] Lien Chan registered for the election on 9 February 2001,[9] and ran unopposed, as Tuan Hung-chun was declared ineligible.

[7] Lien was required to gather a petition of three percent of the party membership to validate his candidacy.

[10] Lien won 97.09% of all votes cast, a record that would stand until 2015, when Eric Chu was elected.